McLagan ordered to pay $202K restitution

Custom home builder James McLagan is expected to get back in the construction business after at Saratoga County judge decided against sentencing the builder to jail.

McLagan, 56, who was once a nationally known award-winning builder, was ordered to pay $202,000 restitution in monthly installments and serve five years probation.

He was sentenced in Saratoga County Court on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to multiple grand larceny and petty larceny charges in May for stealing from home buyers and subcontractors on high-end homes in Saratoga Springs and Stillwater.

“He fell upon hard times, took on too much work and over extended himself,” said E. Stewart Jones, the Troy criminal lawyer who represented McLagan.

Problems arose as the housing market collapsed and McLagan began using home buyer deposits to pay for work on unrelated projects and to pay off unrelated business and personal debts, said Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III.

The builder was arrested in February 2008 and again last November.

He pleaded guilty to two felony grand larceny charges and two misdemeanor petty larceny charges in Saratoga County Court.

Murphy said he was pleased with the sentence, because it will allow McLagan to work so he can repay subcontractors who are owed $72,085. That debt is to be repaid in installments.

McLagan also was ordered to repay $130,000 to home buyers who made downpayments for homes that McLagan did not complete.

That case was handled by a special prosecutor.

Jones said McLagan currently is working for other builders, but he expects him to start working on his own again.

“I would stay tuned, I am sure he is going to get back in the game successfully, very soon,” Jones said.